One core mission of trucking industry professionals is to reduce crashes. In order to properly identify and reduce accidents, safety professionals need to try to understand why they occur. With any crash there can be a variety of contributory root causes, including equipment-related issues, environmental conditions, other motorists' actions, etc.
However, there is one common denominator with all crashes - the involved driver. Estimates vary, but some suggest that more than 90 percent of root causes of crashes can be traced back to the driver.
Some of the driver-related root causes of crashes include:
- Impairment. This could be fatigue, intoxication, distraction, use of cell phones, use of prescription meds, or illegal drugs.
- Lack of sufficient awareness of risks/hazards. Some drivers lack the knowledge about what to do in the event of a tornado, hurricane, thick fog, icy roads, smoke/dust, high winds, or other environmental factors. Lack of knowledge risks such as high-center of gravity, stopping distance, speed/space factors, and hydroplaning can also be present.
- Other motorists. Some drivers lack awareness and education about how to recognize the unsafe actions of other motorists.
- Sleep and nutrition. Many drivers do not have sufficient levels of awareness or education about proper sleep and nutrition habits or the true dangers involved with the use of cell phones.
- Drugs. Also, many drivers do not have enough knowledge about the effects of certain drugs on a person’s physiology.
- Poor technique. Sometimes crashes occur simply because the involved driver does not use the correct technique for the situation, either because they are not thinking of it or they are not aware of the correct technique.
- Lack of skill. Intersection crashes may occur due to a deficiency in skill in approaching and traveling through intersections or a lack of sufficient skill in seeing and recognizing those hazards that are present.
- Poor winter driving skills. Lack of winter driving skills, such as selecting the proper gear and speed for dangerous road conditions, have led to many crashes.
- The driver was completely unaware of the correct technique to use in the situation.
- The driver knew the correct technique but was unable to utilize that technique due to some physical or mechanical limitation.
- The driver knew the correct technique and chose not to use it.
The beliefs and personal values a driver relies on when making driving decisions are often based on a wide range of influences. Allowing drivers to develop a higher tolerance for risk-taking behaviors greatly increases the likelihood that these attitudes will eventually contribute to that driver being involved in a crash.
Ultimately, management is responsible for ensuring that systems are in place to create an environment that supports driver behavior consistent with safe operations. Often, true root cause analysis reveals that management’s action or inaction influences driver behavior. Given this, management’s role is fourfold:
- Look for signs of impairment in the drivers and take rapid actions to reduce the risks.
- Through education and training, ensure drivers are made fully aware of all risk factors.
- Ensure drivers are fully trained to be able to handle any situation that arises.
- Identify poor attitudes early on and remove these risks from the fleet if unable to change these unsafe attitudes through education and training.
Note: These lists are not intended to be all-inclusive.
The information in this article is provided as a courtesy of Great West Casualty Company and is part of the Value-Driven® Company program. Value-Driven Company was created to help educate and inform insureds so they can make better decisions, build a culture that values safety, and manage risk more effectively. To see what additional resources Great West Casualty Company can provide for its insureds, please contact your safety representative, or click below to find an agent.
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This material is intended to be a broad overview of the subject matter and is provided for informational purposes only. Great West Casualty Company does not provide legal advice to its insureds, nor does it advise insureds on employment-related issues. Therefore, the subject matter is not intended to serve as legal or employment advice for any issue(s) that may arise in the operations of its insureds. Legal advice should always be sought from the insured’s legal counsel. Great West Casualty Company shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss, action, or inaction alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the information contained herein.
